On Thursday 28 June, the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay - presented by Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung - will travel 100.4 miles through 17 communities on its journey from Lincoln to Nottingham.
The Relay will travel through the following communities: Lincoln, Saxilby, Darlton, East Markham, Tuxford, Kirton, Boughton, Edwinstowe, Mansfield, Kelham, Newark-on-Trent, Balderton, Belton House, Grantham, Radcliffe-on-Trent, Nottingham and West Bridgford.
Highlights for today include:
7:57am - The first Torchbearer of the day will be Dorothy Fraser, 75, who was nominated by the City of Lincoln Council through the LOCOG campaign. Dorothy will carry the Flame through Minster Yard, next to Lincoln Cathedral. Dorothy has been nominated for her inspirational contribution to sport which includes holding every record for sprinting within the Lincoln Wellington Athletic Club. Dot continues to compete in running tournaments all over the world.
10:51am - The Flame will visit Major Oak in Nottingham's Sherwood Forest, an oak tree which is between 800 and 1,000 years old and be carried by Torchbearer Laura Graves, 16 from Grantham. Laura was nominated for her outstanding sporting accomplishments, inspirational work with young people around the Olympic legacy and her work with the local Guides and Brownies. Laura will have a photo opportunity next to "Robin Hood" at Major Oak.
Twenty young people selected through the LOCOG International Inspiration programme will run in two teams of ten in Radcliffe on Trent and Nottingham. One Torchbearer was selected from each of the 20 countries which are part of the programme, from Azerbaijan to Zambia. International Inspiration is London 2012's international legacy programme which provides sport and play opportunities to over 12 million children in 20 countries around the world. The programme was born out of the promise made in Singapore to reach young people around the world and inspire them to choose sport and is delivered by the British Council, Unicef UK and UK Sport.
5:12pm - Torchbearer Adam White, aged 21 from Nottingham will travel in a rowing boat with the Flame across the water at the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham. Adam was nominated for his exceptional sporting achievements in trampolining. Adam coaches voluntarily for 9 hours every week at a local trampolining club and also offers his time to local schools.
6:23pm - Former Olympic champions and figure-skating duo Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean will take to the ice at Nottingam Ice Arena to perform a specially choreographed routine with the Torch in hand.
6:55pm - The last Torchbearers of the day will be Torvill and Dean who having completed the routine at the Ice Arena will then light the cauldron at the evening celebration.
The evening celebration will take place at Old Market Square in Nottingham City Centre and begin at 5:15pm. The event will feature a variety of entertainment staged by LOCOG and the three Presenting Partners of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay - Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung - with support from Nottingham City Council.
Local talent will shine during two special music, theatre and dance performances entitled 'Heroes of Nottingham' celebrating the achievements of some of the city's iconic sporting and cultural heroes. The piece entitled 'Heroes of Nottingham' has been choreographed by Dance4 and Lakeside Arts Centre.
Lloyds TSB Flame Followers Spectacular' will feature their troupe of performers who will travel along the route of the 70 day Olympic Torch Relay. Their performance is a unique fusion of street performance, theatre and sport - celebrating the endeavour, athleticism, agility and skill of our national Olympic sporting heroes, Team GB Coca-Cola will bring the singer, Loick Essien to the evening celebration, whilst 'Britain's Got Talent' finalists Twist & Pulse have been chosen by Samsung to invite the nation to take part in the Olympic Games experience at each of the 66 Evening Celebration events across the country.
James Williams, Director, Olympic Torch Relay, Coca-Cola Northwest Europe & Nordics, said: "Today, more Coca-Cola Future Flames will help us celebrate the forty-first day of our amazing journey, including Daniel Whittingham and Keeley Shaw who carry the Olympic Flame in Nottingham and Boughton. We will also get everyone to Move to the Beat tonight as we bring Loick Essien to the stage in Nottingham."
Sally Hancock, Director, London 2012 Partnership at Lloyds Banking Group, said: "We are proud to be bringing the excitement of London 2012 to communities along the route of the Olympic Torch Relay. Lloyds TSB is creating as many opportunities as possible for people to get involved as the Olympic Flame passes their door. We're calling on everyone to cheer on their local Lloyds TSB Torchbearers - extraordinary people like Tom Baptist, carrying the Flame in Nottingham. The Lloyds TSB Flame Followers will also light up the route ahead of the Flame, before their Flame Followers Spectacular performance in Nottingham tonight."
Sunny Hwang, Vice President & Head of Global Sports Marketing, Samsung Electronics, said: "Samsung is delighted to be a Presenting Partner of the Olympic Torch Relay as it has given us the perfect opportunity to encourage everyone from all around the world to be involved in the Olympic Games."
Torchbearer highlights:
Daniel Whittingham, 26, from Gamston. Selected through the Coca-Cola Future Flames programme, Daniel lost a leg in 2011 whilst serving in Afghanistan. Rather than let the horrific circumstances he was left with overcome him, Daniel used his injury to enrich his life and take up a number of sports including kayaking, cycling and roller-skating. In August 2011 Daniel represented GB Paracanoe at the World Championships and in December he was in a crew of six injured and uninjured service personnel to row the Atlantic. A truly inspirational character, Daniel has tattooed the saying 'the measure of a man is his ability to rise again' on his arm. He's an active member of the community and provides talks to school children and injury groups.
Tom Baptist, 28 from Nottingham, nominated through Lloyds TSB's public nomination campaign runs and implements the outreach work for a residential youth centre in Derbyshire called The Briars. His job involves visiting schools across the Nottingham Diocese (that's FIVE counties) & teaching, engaging & inspiring young people about issues that affect them today.
Jillian Stidever, 75, from Boughton. Jill is involved with disability swimming from grassroots right through to a national level for over fifty years. Jill has a real passion for developing the appropriate opportunities for young people. Through Jill, many young swimmers have developed their skills and competed up to Paralympic level. Jill coaches swimmers and also accompanies them to all levels of competitions. Jill is extremely dedicated to supporting schools, both mainstream and special, gives her time to support their young swimmers. Jill can often be seen in a swimming pool with a child who, for them, even a few basic swimming skills is an enormous challenge. Jill has worked with swimmers with cerebral palsy for many years and currently coaches people at all levels. Jill delivers development days aimed at parents, teachers, teaching assistants, swimming coaches, and volunteers. The Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport (LRS) Parallel Youth Games programme has benefited from the influence of Jill who has been involved in the planning of the event and running it as Competition Manager. Jill has used her influence with schools and parents to ensure that young people have the opportunity to participate. Over 50 years of passionate coaching, officiating and mentoring of young swimmers from Jill Stidever MBE, at a young 74 years of age makes her an outstanding candidate to be a Torchbearer in 2012.
International Inspiration case studies
UGANDA: Catherine, 16 years old. Catherine's race for life began in the arid environment of Karamoja, north eastern Uganda. At first, her 'training' consisted of running to fetch water and firewood, and to school and back. In 2010, in her final year at primary school, she participated in the East African Championships in Khartoum, Sudan where she finished sixth. This experience has motivated her to continue to train as a long distance runner and to encourage other young people to choose sport; she has spoken on the benefits of sport at a school assembly and now plans to become a full-time Athletics Coach in the future.
BANGLADESH: Shoriful, 18 years old. Shoriful is a Community Swimming Instructor teaching survival swimming skills. One of his eight year old students went on to save the life of another drowning child after learning survival swimming techniques with Shoriful. Having developed his leadership skills as a Swimming Instructor, Shoriful has subsequently been proactive in motivating and mobilizing his peers to engage in various activities promoting social change including actions to prevent child marriage and trafficking and to decrease school drop-out rates. He hopes that the opportunity to become an Olympic Torch Bearer will help him continue to improve his standing within his local community.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Shaquille, 18 years old. International Inspiration is working in Trinidad and Tobago to combat issues of gang violence and anti-social behaviour, and address a lack of opportunities for young people to develop important life skills. Shaquille is a shining example of a young man whose aspirations have been raised by sport. The programme has helped him to focus on both his school work and sporting activities, improve his organisational skills and enabled him to represent Trinidad and Tobago at the World Championships in Dragon Boat Racing in July 2011. His dream is to become an Olympic runner and a pilot.
INDIA: Pinky, 19 years old. Pinky is an International Inspiration Young Leader in her village of Barbaruah in North Eastern India. Pinky runs sports session at her school for the children and young people of her migrant tea plucker community, encouraging them to participate actively in sport and talking to their parents about how sport can play a vital role in their child's education and social development. She also advocates on pertinent social issues such as child marriage, alcoholism and adult literacy at community meetings. After becoming aware of the level of illiteracy in her community, Pinky is now working to re-start the night school in her community which shut down 18 years ago to teach adults basic literacy skills. She has become an inspiring role model for other children and young people in her community.
PALAU: Jack, 14 years old. Jack is a keen runner and basketball player and has come to value and appreciate an active lifestyle. Palau as a nation struggles with an obesity problems among young people. As an overweight child, sport is helping to change his approach to life. His lifestyle change has been an inspiration to his schoolmates, teachers, and the small community he lives in. He and his increased confidence are a wonderful example of the benefits of an active, healthy lifestyle physically, mentally, and emotionally. He has been inspired by sport to become involved in the organisation of an after school sports club, complete with competitions, and to represent his school as a member of its basketball team.
For further information please contact the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 100 or visit the website at www.london2012.com. Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ on our blog http://blog.london2012.com or follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/london2012
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